Most jarring from the Foton was the lack of production from all but one player. Petron had both imports Lindsay Stalzer and Hillary Hurley provide the bulk of their offense with a sprinkle of points from the locals.

Foton, on the other hand, had Serbian import Sara Klisura tally 29 points, with the rest of the team scoring below their average.

The Tornadoes’ Jaja Santiago, who had just 11 points against Petron, knows that the most successful teams in the Grand Prix have everyone involved, not just the imports.

A pivotal cog in Foton’s last two Grand Prix titles, the National Team stalwart vows that Klisura will have more support tomorrow when they face the undefeated F2 Logistics Cargo Movers.

With a 5-1 record, the Tornadoes are assured of a top four seed in the knockout quarterfinals, which begin next week. Even if the result of tomorrow’s match has no technical bearing on their standings, Santiago insists that beating a dominant foe like the Cargo Movers will do wonders for their confidence.

For a team gunning for a historic three-peat, Foton need all the confidence they can get.

Miguel Luis Flores fell face first into sports writing in high sch9l and has never gotten up. He reluctantly stumbled into the volleyball beat when he started with Tiebreaker Times three years ago. Now, he has waded through everything volleyball - from its icky politics to the post-modern art that is Jia Morado's setting.